Church History

St Stephen in Moreton Valence has stood for over eight hundred years. A little Norman Church, of which many features remain, was built during the regins of Stephen and Matilda. It was built alongside a castle and moat built behind the Church in 1253 for William de Valence. The house was recorded in 1324, but by 1372, the buildings were said to be worth nothing beyond their expenses and probably gone out of use. All that remains is a flat site surrounded by a moat.

The Church contains many references to Norman and Saxon England. The chanel semi-circular arch is a simple and characteristic example of early Norman architecture. A Norman doorway is portected by a timber-framed gable around the back of the Church, by which castle folk came to Church. The porch also protects the tympanum, the most interesting feature of the Church. It is a semi-circular stone which represents the Archangel Michael piercing the head of a dragon with a spear.

The whole Church was rebuilt in the 14th or 15th centuries. Many gravestones around the Churchyard are from the 16th and 17th centuries. The Church has a two-manual organ by F W Walker of London, dated 1849. The Church has six bells, four dating back in 1696. The cottage next to the Church was once the Vicarage.